Let me start by saying that my first and top priority for some one to replace Rafael Benitez at the Stamford bridge hot seat is Jose Mourinho. Jose is any Chelsea’s fans favorite to take over at Chelsea once Benitez’s interim stint ends in June. And I am a big fan of Jose Mourinho, the way he works, motivates, gives interview, his tactics…everything. Really, what can you hate of a Genius manager like Mourinho? We call him the ‘Special One’ for a reason. He has won 6 major trophies in 3 years in West London with the blues. There are some fans who were calling for Pep Guardiola to take over at Chelsea this summer instead of Mourinho. Those fans think Mourinho’s weakness is giving chance & developing young players. But, truth be told, I can’t see any main weakness in Mourinho as a manager. He has increased the number of home-grown players at Santiago Bernabeu and have given chance to youngsters like John Obi Mikel and Scott Sinclair when he was at Stamford Bridge.

Now, the only three top candidates to take over the managerial helm at Stamford bridge are Jose Mourinho, Manuel Pellegrini and David Moyes. Gardiola had opted for Bayern Munich earlier in January because of the stability and structure of the Bavarian club being similar to the one he was used to at Camp Nou, Barcelona. This should serve as a good example to Billionaire owner Roman Abramovich that hiring and firing managers quickly will hurt the stability and the image of the club. There were many rumors that Pep was looking to become a Chelsea manager because he appreciated the attacking style the team was playing this season. He was thought to be a big fan of Juan Mata and really liked the trio behind the striker in midfield-MaZaCar as we call it( Oscar, Hazard & Mata). But, after all the deal couldn’t happen after he saw Roberto DiMatteo sacked just six months after winning the Champions League Trophy.

Now, there is a big chance of Mourinho returning to Stamford Bridge this summer as even this week, reports said that Mourinho’s son coach had been told by the Portuguese that he will not remain in the capital of Spain the season after. And we all now the speculations that linked Mourinho with the exit door at the Bernabue as he had fall out with many top players like Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas. So, the candidates of where Mourinho will be coaching next season are Chelsea, PSG & Manchester City according to many rumors, and of course Chelsea being the favorites for his signature.

But if this deal won’t happen or if Mourinho opts to remain at Real for another season, Malaga Manager Manuel Pelligrini will be a decent fall back option out of the list of managers to take Over at Chelsea. The Chilean Manager has had an incredible season at Andalusia by leading the club to the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League. They were even 2 minutes away from guaranteeing their semi-final spot if it weren’t from a miraculous effort from BVB that saw the Germans score two goals to advance to the semis of the tournament. And the tactic he uses at Malaga is similar to our 4-2-3-1 with the much sought after Isco deploying in the no. 10 position that Juan Mata occupies here at Chelsea.

The way Malaga had been playing all season have been fantastic whether it’s in UCL or La Liga. Pellegrini used his limited squad that sold top talents like Cazorla and Monreal to Arsenal and made them one of the top underdogs in Europe this season. They play in a very fluid and attacking style concentrated on holding position. It’s the type of stye that can bring the best out of our current starting eleven with Mata, Oscar, Hazard and Ramires playing a key role in the system.
When we talk about Pellegrini’s past accolades, it’s a respected and great work that he has done even though he has not won a major trophy at any club he worked for. That seems to be an issue as we need a manager with many cups to their names like former recruit, two-time UCL winner, Carlo Ancelloti.

But, Pellegrini’s style is very organized and desciplined as he demands hard work and a 100% display from his players. He is confident of his skills and that’s why he took over the Santiago Bernabue hot seat in Summer of 2009. That summer Real went for their part 2 ‘Galacticos’ by singing players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema, Albiol, and Xabi Alonso for a combined fee of over €200 million. When asked by the press about this, Pellegrini said “It’s no good having an orchestra with the 10 best guitarists if I don’t have a pianist.” This quote much explains his attitude towards a club’s transfer policy.

And his work at Villarreal reflects the opinion I mentioned above. He signed decent players with little reputation in Europe and made them the dark horses of the tournament in the 2005/6 Champions league campaign. That season, Villarreal wear a penalty away from booking a final against Barcelona before they were denied by an incredible Jehns Lehmann penalty save and were knocked out of the competition by Arsenal. He had players like Juan Roman Riquelme performing at their top level that campaign. Many of the players he had in that Villarreal side had not been at their best before they arrived but, Pellegrini turned them in to an unstoppable machine and against all odds, they got to the semis of the grand competition in Europe(even Real Madrid were earlier knocked out by Arsenal).

Then he arrived at Santiago Bernabeu in June 2009 with an excellent reputation despite lacking a major trophy like I mentioned earlier. He was and still is one of the respected managers in all of European football. Actually, the one season he had at real Madrid kind of ruined his reputation a little bit as he was unable to bring the squad together and handle the big egos in the locker room. And for that he isn’t the one to blame but, the club’s policy at the time. Remember the quote I mention earlier, it states that he was not an influential voice in bringing many of the players that were signed that summer when he arrived. Much like Andre Villas-Boas was not to blame for all his failures at Chelsea. That’s another topic to discuss in a whole new article but, AVB was a victim of too much player power given to the old guards(particularly Ashley Cole and Lampard, as they were the two to have been unhappy with the squad rotation & reported it to the board, according to multiple reports at the time).

That was just an example & Back to our topic, Then Pellegrini went on to Malaga. Since then, he has transformed the team from just an ordinary la liga club into an exciting team with much depth of young talents. Instead of using the Arab club owners’ money to sign top, high wage players, he signed players like Isco as 18 years old from Valencia and also brought over Santi Cazorla from his former club Villarreal. We all know how the two players changed after coming to Malaga. The Spanish press nick-named him ‘The Engineer’ for his amazing tactical nous and structural knowledge. Their is also the mouth watering prospect of signing Isco if Pellegrini becomes our manager. Because it’s clear to see what type of players he will prefer to sign for Chelsea if he becomes a manager for the blues. And adding to the young talents and developing squad we have here at the club, the future looks bright for Chelsea, but Abramovic needs to be patient and at least give him a season or two to make impacts by winning trophies. And other issues like dealing with player power and those sort of stuff wouldn’t be an issue as he is an experienced trainer and will easily command respect in the dressing room at this moment. But, as I said before, Mourinho should be the top priority always to take over as the two managers don’t come close if we compare their works in the last decade. But, Pellegrini is clearly a great fall-back option just in case if Mourinho opted to stay at Madrid or goes to PSG or Man City (I’m just saying this since it was speculated in the media, but I repeat, its very unlikely that he would take over at one of the two clubs).

About Author

festus

Related Posts

Comments

By jonny9fan

Only based on tactics, Pellegrini is undoubtedly one of the strongest manager in the world. Malaga is very well organised, the system flexible (his 4-2-3-1 changeable to a 4-3-2-1 or 4-3-3 depended on situation) and they play great pressing (I think it’s not the best moment to write this as Malaga is losing 4-0 to Valencia, but in general Malaga’s defence is very solid). Would welcome both Moyes, who often integrates young players (what we have more than a lot) into the 1. team, and Pellegrini, IF Mourinho isn’t coming home.

on Apr 21, 2013

By Anonymous

Yes, his tactical brilliance is very incredible and Pellegrini is one of the best in that Mould! I agree 100%

You must be joking? Another No mark who has won very little in European league football. Only lasted at Madrid for a year then they sacked him. If Chelsea employ him he will just be sacked in a season and the revolving door keeps on spinning. Watching the Benitez era at Chelsea has been like watching a train crash, i just cant believe Roman is allowing the destruction of our club and is going to be content becoming mid table Europa fodder. Good luck with this bloke, really!

on Apr 22, 2013

By Anonymous

I started off by saying only Mourinho will satisfy me to be our manager. I understand with your frustration in Roman’s fire-and-hire thing, but, as I mention Pellegrini is one of the best when it comes to Tactical approach. And he has a massive experience in Europe although he has not won a major trophy. Capello would be a good choice but, he has said he would coach Russia till they host the world cup in 2018. That’s why Russia federation made him their manager, it’s because they wanted to make an impact in their own country at the biggest stage possible. I would even say Klopp, but he has rejected also by saying he would see out his contract at BVB until 2016.

on Apr 22, 2013

By jonny9fan

Capello and Klopp aren’t available as Anonymous said. So talking about Capello is absolutely unnecessary. There aren’t a lot of great managers now on the market, the most of them aren’t willing to leave their own club. Pellegrini and Moyes are two very possible options to go to Chelsea. And apparently you have never seen a Malaga game under Pellegrini talking about a ‘no mark’ or ‘bloke’. Pellegrini was very unlucky to get employed at Madrid when Barca reached their absolute highest peak of world dominance. He achieved 96 magnificent points in the season at Real Madrid, reached the semis in the Champions League with Villareal and nearly reached the semis with Malaga this year.

Gary watson, you know nothing about pellegrini,just imagine chelsea a club who spent colosul sums of money couldn’t reach the cl ko but a club which lost big players(carzola nd monreal) and in financial crisis managed to do what our might chelsea couldn’t do..

on Apr 24, 2013

By Anonymous

HOW ABOUT HEYNECKES

on Apr 24, 2013

For the latest Chelsea football club news updates check out our partner site- Chelsea news